Valentines Day Rose flavoured cupcake recipe

You would be right in assuming that I am dreaming of red roses this Valentines day, to the extent that my Valentine’s themed cupcakes taste and look like the romantic flowers themselves. Flavoured with rose water and emblazoned with uncurling red petals these cupcakes are perfect for Valentines day, especially as a gift or used to decorate the dining table. The cupcake and buttercream recipes come from ‘Cupcakes’ by the Primrose Bakery.

2. Cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing for a few minutes after each one.

3. Combine the flours in a separate bowl.

4. In a separate jug mix the rosewater and the milk, testing the strength as you go.

5. Add a third of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat. Pour in one third of the milk and beat again. Repeat until all ingredients are combined

6. Spoon the mixture into the cases, to about 2/3rds full and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown

7. Leave to cool for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack.

Rose buttercream

115g unsalted butter (room temperature)

4 tablespoons semi-skimmed milk (room temperature)

1 tsp vanilla extract

500g icing sugar, sifted

½ tsp rosewater

pink food colouring

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, milk, vanilla extract and half the icing sugar until smooth.

2. Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar and beat again until the buttercream is smooth and creamy.

3. Add the rosewater at the end and beat thoroughly. If you want pink icing, add a tiny drop of pink food colouring.

4. Fill a piping bag with the icing and using a 2D nozzle, create an icing rose effect by starting in the centre and squeezing the icing around the cupcake.

Fondant icing roses

This is certainly a time consuming way to decorate cakes, but I think the end result is worth the extra effort. For these Valentines cakes, I rather ambitiously made large roses, with several uncurling petals but to speed things up you can always make them much smaller and less intricate. To make an icing rose roll out some red fondant icing and cut out several small circles, I used the end of a piping nozzle as a cutter which worked a treat. Roll up one of the circles to create the centre rose bud and put to one side. Next, roll out one of the sides of each of the circles, so that it is slightly thinner and elongated, this will form the tips of the petals. Carefully fold each petal around the rose bud, overlapping as you go until you’ve reached the desired size. Towards the end, I end to space my petals out a bit more so the rose seems larger. Finally, slice off any surplus icing from underneath the rose and ensemble onto the cake with the help of edible glue if need be.

They are delicious and extremely pretty, and a perfectly sweet way to say ‘I love you’

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